MMA Lab’s James Nakashima makes successful ONE Championship debut in Pasay

Representing MMA Lab, James “Nako” Nakashima, 30, of Dwight, Illinois, United States recently made a successful debut in ONE Championship. He was one of the winners at “ONE: Conquest of Champions” on November 23, 2018 and was the only fighter who represented the United States in the event.

Nakashima is a former American National Wrestling Champion. As a professional MMA fighter, he now has 10 wins and 0 loss.

James Nakashima vs Raimond Magomedaliev

Featuring eight mixed martial arts matches, two Muay Thai bouts and two kickboxing contests, “ONE: Conquest of Champions” took place at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was the fourth and last ONE Championship event to be held in the country in 2018.

In the eighth bout of the evening, Nakashima competed in an MMA bout in the welterweight division against Raimond Magomedaliev, 28, of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. Both contenders entered the cage as ONE Championship debutantes and undefeated fighters.

After Magomedaliev’s range posed a problem for Nakashima in the first round, the American fighter bucked a slow start. In the succeeding rounds, the MMA Lab athlete’s grappling prowess was put on display as he took his Russian opponent down at will and consistently pounded him out.

In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Nakashima. It made his the first MMA fighter to defeat Magomedaliev, whose professional MMA record downgraded to 5 wins and 1 loss.

In the co-main event of the evening, which was a ONE Lightweight World Championship bout, Eduard Folayang of the Philippines defeated Amir Khan of Singapore by unanimous decision after 5 rounds. In the main event, which was a ONE Heavyweight World Championship bout, Brandon Vera of the Philippines knocked out Mauro Cerilli of Italy in the first round.